Use a jump box for the front admin access, or open 18901 for the encrypted admin access (only with Couchbase Server 3.0).

Map externally to another random port for security.

ACL the #18091 endpoint.

Couchbase Web Console and CLI use #18091, which is SSL encrypted.

ACL #18091 for added security. No need to open any other port

Encrypt cross DC/Region traffic with SSL.

Configuration of the Couchbase Server application

Ensure that applications are deployed to the same Vnet.

Use privateIPs (10.0.x.x) for websites, VM applications or cloud services.

SSL based client-server communications

SSL based view access: https://couchbase_server:18092/…

Configuration of storage

Mount data disks and stripe across with RAID 0.

Do not use ephemeral drive, which will be reset under node restart.

Do not use OS drive because it is limited in size.

Do not use ReadWrite caching for Couchbase Server data drives, since it writes through to Azure Storage.

Install Azure with the Wizard

To deploy Couchbase Server on Microsoft Azure, follow these steps:

Log into your account for the Azure Management portal manage.windowsazure.com and select Virtual Machines in the left menu.

Create a new virtual machine by pressing the + (plus) symbol in the lower left corner:

Follow the wizard to create a virtual machine From Gallery that was pre-installed with Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter.

In the second part of the virtual machine configuration, wizard fills in the Virtual Machine Name. This is the display name that will be used by Windows Azure inside the Portal.

Choose username and password. They are used for Remote Desktop to the VM, which is important since you need to install Couchbase Server on the VM using Remote Desktop.

Pick up the VM machine size (A1 through G5).

In the third part of the configuration wizard, we need to pick a DNS name and Region and leave all other options unchanged Region: To lower network latency chose an area close to your location. DNS: Please note that the DNS name needs to be unique for all Azure instances.

In the fourth and last step, leave all settings and their defaults and select done/checkmark.

The moment the wizard is complete Azure begins the process to start the new VM: Loading, Provisioning, Start, Running.

Press "Connect" in the lower left in the Dashboard tab for the newly created WM. This will start a download of a preconfigured Remote Desktop file. Open the file and follow the steps in "Remote Desktop" to log in to the VM.

Before installing Couchbase Server, perform the following basic setup steps. Disable Enhanced IE Security and in Firewall Settings make sure that the required ports are open so that the client can connect to the node. Verify the list of ports.